Portable terminal, portable telephone and master slave portable telephone system using the portable terminal

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a portable terminal such as a portable telephone terminal and so forth for effecting communication, information processing and so forth, and to provide the portable terminal and a master slave portable telephone system capable of rendering a transmission and/or reception mode of information to be multi-functional to enhance communication function, thereby enhancing the convenience thereof. The portable terminal comprises an information transmission and/or reception part for effecting transmission and/or reception of information, a radio communication part for effecting communication by radio, and an information processing part for processing information. The portable terminal can effect transmission and/or reception of information relative to another portable terminal by any of a master terminal made up of the information transmission and/or reception part and the information processing part, a slave terminal made up of the information transmission and/or reception part and the radio communication part, and a normal terminal configured by combining the radio communication part with the information processing part via the information transmission and/or reception part.

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/776,305, filed Feb. 12, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,245,873 which isbased upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese PatentApplication No. 2003-092643, filed on Mar. 28, 2004, the entire contentsof which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a portable terminal and a portable telephonesuch as a 3G (third Generation mode telecommunication) terminal and soforth, particularly to a portable terminal and a portable telephonecorresponding to various communication systems such a W-CDMA(Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access) system and so forth and amaster slave portable telephone system.

2. Description of the Related Art

A portable terminal corresponding to a conventional communication systemis configured, for example, as shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows the summaryof a portable terminal. A portable terminal 2 has a radio part 4 and acontrol part 6 as a basic configuration. The radio part 4 in thepreceding stage is a part for effecting transmission and/or reception ofan RF (Radio Frequency) signal while using radio wave serving as atransmission medium, and has an antenna 8, a transmission and/orreception switching part 10, an RF (Radio Frequency) reception part 12,an RF transmission part 14, and a base band part 16. The control part 6in the subsequent stage has a processing part 18, a microphone 20, aspeaker 22, a keyboard 24, a display part 26 and so forth. Theprocessing part 18 has a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read-OnlyMemory), a RAM (Random-Access Memory) and so forth, which execute a keyboard control, a voice amplification, a display control, an applicationcontrol and so forth.

According to the portable terminal 2, a base band signal is demodulatedfrom the RF signal received by the RF reception part 12, and a voicesignal which is separated from the base band signal at the base bandpart 16 is reproduced as a voice by the speaker 22 via the processingpart 18. Further, an input signal to the keyboard 24 and an input signalto the microphone 20 are converted into the base band signal by the baseband part 16 via the processing part 18, and the converted base bandsignal is modulated at the RF transmission part 14 and is transmittedvia the antenna 8 as the RF signal.

With such an arrangement of the portable terminal, the W-CDMA prevailsas a future generation portable telephone system serving as a universalcommon portable telephone system, and a universal standard system of anIMT 2000 (International Mobile Telecommunication-2000), but the basicconfiguration of the portable terminal of this new communication systemis the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 1. However, the portabletelephone system of the new communication system mounts thereon ahardware and a software for realizing a high capacity datacommunication, a high image quality display, a high grade sound quality,thereby enhancing high-function compared with the portable telephonesystem of the conventional communication system.

There exists, for example, a patent document such as JP-A 2002-9689disclosing the portable telephone relating to the W-CDMA.

JP-A 2002-9689 relates to a portable telephone for effectingcommunication by the W-CDMA system, and it plans to realize a portabletelephone capable of more precisely specify a long code even under theinfluence of phasing.

Meanwhile, the portable terminal of the new communication system such ashigh-function W-CDMA and so forth is developing in respect of downsizingand low power consumption compared with the portable terminal of theexisting communication system. That is, it makes the portable terminaldifficult to be downsized and to be low in power consumption becausedownsizing and low power consumption of core components of the radiopart 4 are insufficient and also a high image quality liquid crystaldisplay is used on the display part 26 of the control part 6, and alsothe number of sound sources and the capacity of the memory increase, andstill also signal processing elements are mounted on the portableterminal and so forth. Particularly, since the current consumption forexecuting high-function processing becomes large, the consumption ofsecondary cell serving as a power supply is significant, and there is alikelihood that a call standby time or call time becomes short.

In the area having small number of base station of a new communicationsystem, a call condition is rendered unstable in a week electric fieldzone. For example, an obstruction such as the inside of the house and soforth brings about call obstruction, which causes an inconvenience suchas the limitation of a call zone to a local part such as a location at awindow of a building and so forth.

Still further, although the downsizing and low power consumption areachieved if the function of the high-function portable terminal isrestricted, such a restriction runs counter to the high-functionportable terminal, thereby spoiling the meaning for making thetransition to the portable terminal of the new communication system.

Although the portable terminal disclosed in JP-A 2002-9689 realizes anexcellent function for dealing with the problem for making thetransition to the high-function portable terminal, the foregoing problemis not resolved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A first object of the invention relates to a portable terminal such as aportable telephone terminal and so forth for effecting communication,information processing and so forth, and is to provide the portableterminal and a portable telephone capable of rendering a transmissionand/or reception mode of information to be multi-functional to enhancecommunication function, thereby enhancing the convenience thereof.

A second object of the invention relates to a portable terminal such asa portable telephone terminal and so forth for effecting communication,information processing and so forth, and is to provide a portableterminal and a portable telephone provided with a master slave functioncapable of realizing downsizing with light weight, high-function, highsensitivity or low current consumption.

A third object of the invention relates to a portable terminal such as aportable telephone terminal and so forth, and is to provide a masterslave portable telephone system by rendering a transmission and/orreception mode of information to be multi-functional, to enhancecommunication function.

To achieve the above first and second objects of the invention, theportable terminal of the invention comprises an information transmissionand/or reception part (weak radio wave transmission and/or receptionparts 118, 128), for effecting transmission and/or reception ofinformation, a radio communication part (e.g., transmission and/orreception switching part 110 of a radio part 104, an RF reception part112, an RF transmission part 114, a base band part 116) for effectingcommunication by radio, and an information processing part (processingpart 119) for processing information described above. With the portableterminal of the invention, it can effect transmission and/or receptionof information relative to another portable terminal by any of a masterterminal made up of the information transmission and/or reception partand information processing part, a slave terminal made up of theinformation transmission and/or reception part and the radiocommunication part, and a normal terminal configured by combining theradio communication part with the information processing part via theinformation transmission and/or reception part, thereby achieving theabove objects. The information transmission and/or reception part is afunction part capable of effecting transmission and/or reception ofinformation utilizing various transmission medium such as radio wave,supersonic wave, light and so forth. The radio communication part is afunction part needed for effecting a long-range or short-rangecommunication using transmission medium such as radio wave and so forth,for example, with a telephone and so forth using a public circuit. Theinformation processing part is a function part for processinginformation which is transmitted and received, and may include afunction part for controlling the radio communication part and theinformation transmission and/or reception part.

According to the portable terminal, it can be configured as a normalterminal capable of communicating and processing information singly byone portable terminal or it may be configured as a master terminal or aslave terminal wherein the master terminal can effect transmissionand/or reception of information relative to another portable terminalserving as a slave terminal via information transmission and/orreception part, and the slave terminal can effect transmission and/orreception of information relative to another portable terminal servingas a master terminal via the information transmission and/or receptionpart.

To achieve the above first and second objects of the invention, theportable terminal of the invention comprises an information transmissionand/or reception part for effecting transmission and/or reception ofinformation, a radio communication part for effecting communication byradio, and an information processing part for processing informationdescribed above, and can be configured to be selectively switched to anyof the first, second and third communication modes. According to thefirst communication mode, the portable terminal can effect transmissionand/or reception of information relative to another portable terminal bycombining the radio communication part with information processing partvia the information transmission and/or reception part. According thesecond communication mode, the portable terminal can effect transmissionand/or reception of information relative to another portable terminalusing the information transmission and/or reception part and theinformation processing part. According to the third communication mode,the portable terminal can effect transmission and/or reception ofinformation relative to another portable terminal using the informationtransmission and/or reception part and the radio communication part.According to the portable terminal of the invention, one portableterminal is provided with multiple communication modes which is switchedto the communication mode in response to the need so as to cope with thediversification of the communication and information processing.

To achieve the first and second objects of the invention, the portableterminal of the invention comprises a radio part (104) and a controlpart (106). The radio part is provided with an information transmissionand/or reception part (weak radio wave transmission and/or receptionpart 118) for effecting transmission and/or reception of information andit is a function part for effecting communication by radio, and thecontrol part is provided with an information transmission and/orreception part (weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part 128)for effecting transmission and/or reception of information and it is afunction part for processing information described above. According tothe portable terminal, it is configured to effect transmission and/orreception of information relative to another portable terminal by boththe radio part and the control part and to effect transmission and/orreception of information relative to another portable terminal by eitherthe radio part or control part, thereby achieving the above objects.

To achieve the above first and second objects of the invention, theportable terminal of the invention is provided with first and secondinformation transmission and/or reception parts (weak radio wavetransmission and/or reception parts 1181, 1182) for effectingtransmission and/or reception of information, a radio part (104) foreffecting communication by radio, and first and second informationtransmission and/or reception parts (weak radio wave transmission and/orreception parts 1281, 1282) for effecting transmission and/or receptionof information and also provided with a control part (106) forprocessing information. With such an arrangement, the radio part andcontrol part can communicate with another portable terminal by effectingthe transmission and/or reception of information via the firstinformation transmission and/or reception part, and by the use of eitherthe radio part or the control part, the transmission and/or reception ofinformation relative to another portable terminal can be effected usingthe second information transmission and/or reception part.

To achieve the above first and second objects of the invention, theportable terminal may be provided with a switching part (switches 132,134, 136) for combining the radio communication part with theinformation processing part or combining the information transmissionand/or reception part with the radio communication part or theinformation processing part. With such an arrangement, the radiocommunication part and information processing part can share a singleinformation transmission and/or reception part.

To achieve the above first and second objects of the invention, theportable terminal is provided with a station part (174) having anexternal antenna (178) wherein when the portable terminal is installedin the station part, the portable terminal can be connected to theexternal antenna. With such an arrangement, it is possible to effectcommunication in a weak electric field zone and to utilize variousfunctions of the high-function portable terminal.

To achieve the above first and second objects of the invention, theportable terminal may be configured such that the portable terminal isfunctioned as the master terminal or the slave terminal within acommunication range of the information transmission and/or receptionpart, and it is functioned as the normal terminal outside thecommunication range of the information transmission and/or receptionpart. That is, it is possible to effect transmission and/or reception ofinformation while avoiding unstable communication in the weak electricfield zone.

To achieve the above first and second objects of the invention, thestation part may be configured to have a charger of a secondary batteryincorporated in the portable terminal. That is, the portable terminalcan be functioned as the slave terminal and so forth at the same timewhen the secondary battery, which is used as the power supply of theportable terminal installed in the station part, is charged.

To achieve the above first and second objects of the invention, theportable telephone of the invention may be configured to have thearrangement of the above-mentioned portable terminals.

To achieve a third object of the invention, the master slave portabletelephone system of the invention configures a master slave systemprovided with first and second portable terminals comprising aninformation transmission and/or reception part for effectingtransmission and/or reception of information, a radio communication partfor effecting communication by radio, and an information processing partfor processing information described above. According to the masterslave portable telephone system, it can effect transmission and/orreception of information between the information processing part of thefirst portable terminal and the radio communication part of the secondportable terminal or effect transmission and/or reception of informationbetween the information processing part of the second portable terminaland the radio communication part of the first portable terminal via theinformation transmission and/or reception parts of first and secondportable terminals, thereby achieving the third object of the invention.With such an arrangement, the first and second portable terminals can beused independently, and also these portable terminals are configured asthe master slave system capable of effecting transmission and/orreception of information between both remote terminals so as to utilizethe respective functions of these portable terminals in multiplication,thereby enhancing multi-function.

To achieve the above third object of the invention, the master slaveportable telephone system of the invention is provided with aninformation transmission and/or reception part for effectingtransmission and/or reception of information, a radio communication partfor effecting communication by radio, and an information processing partfor processing information described above, and also provided with firstand second portable terminals functioning as the master terminalconfigured by the information transmission and/or reception part and theinformation processing part and also functioning as the slave terminalconfigured by the information transmission and/or reception part and theradio communication part. With the master slave portable telephonesystem of the invention, it is configured such that transmission and/orreception of information is effected between the first portable terminaland the second portable terminal via the information transmission and/orreception part by combining the master terminal with the slave terminalvia the information transmission and/or reception parts of the first andsecond portable terminals, thereby achieving the third objects.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be mademore clear with reference to the attached drawings and each of theembodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a summary of a portable terminalcorresponding to a conventional communication system;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a portable terminal according to afirst embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a portable terminal according to asecond embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a master slave portable telephonesystem according to a third embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a portable terminal according to afourth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a modified example of the portableterminal according to the fourth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing another modified example of theportable terminal according to the fourth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a master slave portable telephonesystem according to a fifth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a portable terminal according to asixth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of a radio part of theportable terminal according to the sixth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an example of a control part of theportable terminal according to the sixth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing processing of the portable terminalaccording to the sixth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a master slave portable telephonesystem according to a seventh embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing processing of the master slave portabletelephone system according to the seventh embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing processing of the master slave portabletelephone system according to the seventh embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a master slave portable telephonesystem according to an eighth embodiment of the invention;

FIGS. 17A and 17B are views each showing a summary of a portableterminal in the master slave portable telephone system according to theeighth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a master slave portable telephonesystem according to a ninth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 19 is a flow chart showing a tripartite call using the master slaveportable telephone system according to the ninth embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 20 is a flow chart showing an interphone call of the master slaveportable telephone system according to the ninth embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 21 is a front view showing a portable telephone according to atenth embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 22 is a perspective view showing a note type personal computeraccording to an eleventh embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 23 is a perspective view showing a PDA according to a twelfthembodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 24 is a side view showing a portable telephone installed in acharger.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment

A first embodiment of the invention is now described with reference toFIG. 2. FIG. 2 shows a portable terminal according to the firstembodiment of the invention. A portable terminal 102 configures as aninformation processing terminal, for example, a portable telephone, andhas a radio part 104 and a control part 106 as a basic configurationwherein the radio part 104 and the control part 106 are configured tofunction separately. The radio part 104 and control part 106 may beconfigured to have a function part which can function or can be usedseparately. For example, the radio part 104 is a function part neededfor effecting long-range or short-range communication using a radio waveand so forth as transmission medium, for example, with a telephone usinga public circuit and so forth, and the control part 106 is a functionpart for processing information to be transmitted or received, whereinthe function part of the radio part 104 may be included in the controlpart 106. Accordingly, even if the radio part 4 and the control part 6are independent functionally from each other according to theconventional portable terminal 2 in FIG. 1, they can merely integrallyoperate, whereas according to the portable terminal 102 of thisembodiment, the radio part 104 and the control part 106 are configuredto function separately. The configuration to function or to be usedseparately means that the radio part 104 and the control part 106 mayoperate at the same time and it does not mean that only one of the radiopart 104 and control part 106 operates.

The radio part 104 is a part for effecting transmission and/or receptionof a call signal which uses a radio wave as transmission medium, andcomprises an antenna 108, a transmission and/or reception switching part110, an RF (Radio Frequency) reception part 112, an RF transmission part114, a base band part 116, a weak radio wave transmission and/orreception part 118, and a control part made up of a CPU and so forth,not shown. That is, the antenna 108, the transmission and/or receptionswitching part 110, the RF reception part 112, the RF transmission part114 and the base band part 116 configure a radio communication part, andthe weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part 118 configures aninformation transmission and/or reception part. The antenna 108 is usedfor effecting transmission and/or reception of an RF signal, and thetransmission and/or reception switching part 110 switches the antenna108 to the RF reception part 112 side when the antenna 108 receives thesignal, and switches the antenna 108 to the RF transmission part 114side when the antenna 108 transmits the RF signal. The RF reception part112 executes processing of demodulation of a base band signal from theRF signal and so forth, and the RF transmission part 114 executesprocessing of modulation from the base band signal to the RF signal. Thebase band part 116 comprises an analog base band processing part and alogic base band processing part, and execute processing of compression,and expansion of a voice signal and synthesis and separation between thevoice signal and a control signal and so forth for effectingtransmission and/or reception of radio. The weak radio wave transmissionand/or reception part 118 is used for effecting transmission and/orreception of various information such as a voice and so forth to betransmitted from the radio part 104 using a weak radio wave astransmission medium separately from the RF signal at the antenna 108side. The weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part 118 can usevarious communication system, for example, it can use Bluetooth.

The control part 106 comprises a processing part 119, a microphone 120,a speaker 122, a keyboard 124, a display part 126 and a weak radio wavetransmission and/or reception part 128. The processing part 119 has aMPU (Micro Processor Unit), a ROM (Read-Only Memory) and a RAM(Random-Access Memory) and so forth and executes a keyboard control, avoice amplification, a display control and an application control and soforth. The microphone 120 detects a voice signal and converts the voicesignal into an electric signal, and inputs the electric signal to theprocessing part 119, and the speaker 122 converts the electric signaloutputted from the processing part 119 into the voice signal. Thekeyboard 124 is used to input information such as a telephone number andso forth to the processing part 119, and the display part 126 comprisesa liquid crystal display and so forth and outputs image information suchas characters and so forth. That is, the microphone 120 and the keyboard124 configure information input part relative to the processing part 119while the speaker 122 and the display part 126 configure informationsupply part for supplying voice or character information. The weak radiowave transmission and/or reception part 128 is used for effectingtransmission and/or reception of various information such as voice andso forth to be transmitted from the radio part 104 using weak radio waveas transmission medium separately from the RF signal at the antenna 108side. The weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part 128 can usevarious communication system corresponding to the weak radio wavetransmission and/or reception part 118, for example, it can useBluetooth.

According to the portable terminal 102 having such an arrangement, theRF signal is received by the RF reception part 112 via the antenna 108,and it is demodulated to the base band signal at the base band part 116,then a voice signal is separated from the base band signal. The voicesignal is transmitted from the weak radio wave transmission and/orreception part 118 serving as a transmission part to the weak radio wavetransmission and/or reception part 128 through a weak radio wave, and itis supplied to the processing part 119 of the control part 106. Thevoice signal is subjected to voice amplification and so forth at theprocessing part 119, which is in turn reproduced as voice by the speaker122. Information other than the voice is displayed on the display part126 where it is supplied. Further, each information signal inputted fromthe keyboard 124 and the microphone 120 is supplied to the weak radiowave transmission and/or reception part 128 via the processing part 119,and they are transmitted to the weak radio wave transmission and/orreception part 118 of the radio part 104 side through the weak radiowave as the transmission medium while the weak radio wave transmissionand/or reception part 128 serves as the transmission part. Theinformation signal received by the weak radio wave transmission and/orreception part 118 is reproduced in the weak radio wave transmissionand/or reception part 118, and the information signal is converted intothe base band signal by the base band part 116, and it is modulated bythe RF transmission part 114, and it is transmitted as the RF signaltoward a base station via the antenna 108.

With the portable terminal 102 having such an arrangement, the radiopart 104 is allowed to function in isolation while separating from thecontrol part 106 in addition to the function as the normal terminal, andalso effects transmission and/or reception of information between itselfand other same type of portable terminals via the weak radio wavetransmission and/or reception part 118 so as to transmit the informationfrom the radio part 104 toward the base station. Further, the controlpart 106 is allowed to function in isolation while separating from theradio part 104, and can effect transmission and/dr reception ofinformation between itself and other same type of portable terminals viathe weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part 128, and cantransmit the information from the control part 106 toward the basestation via the other portable terminals. Further, information receivedfrom another portable terminal can be also transmitted from the radiopart 104 via the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception parts118, 128. In such a manner, the portable terminal 102 can realizecomplex call and data communication associated with another portableterminal in addition to the function as a single normal terminal.

Accordingly, the portable terminal 102 having such an arrangement caneffect long-range communication utilizing a public circuit network andso forth by the radio communication part set forth above, and alsoeffect a short-range communication between the portable terminals by theinformation transmission and/or reception part set forth above, therebyrealizing a high convenient portable terminal, and coping with callmodes, locations, and portable terminals through which the call iseffected, so that the convenience of the portable terminal is enhanced.

Further, with the portable terminal having such an arrangement, it ispossible to selectively switch between a communication mode as a normalterminal and other communication modes between itself and othercommunication terminal on one portable terminal, thereby providing ahigh convenient portable terminal capable of selecting a desiredcommunication mode.

Still further, since the portable terminal having such an arrangement isprovided with the information transmission and/or reception part foreffecting transmission and/or reception of information in the radio partfor effecting communication by radio and the information transmissionand/or reception part for effecting transmission and/or reception ofinformation in the control part for processing information, the portableterminal can effect transmission and/or reception of information betweenitself and another portable terminal while the radio part and thecontrol part are independent from each other.

Second Embodiment

A second embodiment of the invention is now described with reference toFIG. 3. FIG. 3 shows a portable terminal according to the secondembodiment of the invention. A portable terminal 102 of this embodimentis configured in that a control part 106M serves as a master terminaland a radio part 104S serves as a slave terminal, and these radio part104S and the control part 106M configure a normal terminal. The otherconfigurations of the second embodiment are the same as those of thefirst embodiment. That is, according to the second embodiment, the radiopart 104S and the control part 106M are configured to function(separately) independently from each other, and the portable terminal102 is electrically and functionally connected to another portableterminal via respective weak radio wave transmission and/or receptionparts 118S, 128M, so that the portable terminal 102 can function as anormal terminal. With such a configuration, the control part 106Mserving as the master terminal is connected to a radio part of othersame kind of portable terminals to effect transmission and/or receptionof information while the radio part 104S serving as the slave terminalconnected to the control part of the same type other portable terminalto effect transmission and/or reception of information, therebyfacilitating diversification of the communication mode.

Third Embodiment

A third embodiment of the invention is now described with reference toFIG. 4. FIG. 4 shows a master slave portable telephone system accordingto the third embodiment of the invention. The master slave portabletelephone system is configured by use of two units of portable terminals1021, 1022 serving as a plurality of portable terminals. According tothis embodiment, the portable terminal 1021 is present at the masterside and the portable terminal 1022 is present at the slave side, andthe configurations of the portable terminals 1021, 1022 are basicallythe same as the portable terminal 102 shown in FIG. 2.

According to two units of portable terminals 1021, 1022 having such aconfiguration, assuming that a radio part 104S of the portable terminal1022 at the slave side and a control part 106M of the portable terminal1021 at the master side are allowed to function and a weak radio wavetransmission and/or reception part 128M and a weak radio wavetransmission and/or reception part 118S are connected to each other viaweak radio wave, one portable terminal is made up of the radio part 104Sat the portable terminal 1022 side and the control part 106M at theportable terminal 1021 side. Even with the portable terminal of themaster slave, as set forth above, information signals which are inputtedfrom a keyboard 124M or a microphone 120M of the portable terminal 1021at the master side are supplied to the weak radio wave transmissionand/or reception part 128M via a processing part 119M, and they aretransmitted from the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part128M to the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part 118S ofthe radio part 104S of the portable terminal 1022 at the slave sidethorough the weak radio wave serving as the transmission medium. Theinformation signal which is received and reproduced by the weak radiowave transmission and/or reception part 118S is supplied to the baseband part 116S, where the information signal such as voice and so forthis converted into a base band signal, then the converted base bandsignal is modulated by the RF transmission part 114S and is transmittedfrom the antenna 108S as an RF signal. Further, the base band signal isdemodulated from the RF signal which is received by the RF receptionpart 112S via the antenna 108S at the radio part 104S at the slave side,and a voice signal which is separated from the base band signal istransmitted from the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part118S serving as a transmission part to the weak radio wave transmissionand/or reception part 128M thorough the weak radio wave, where it isreproduced, then the reproduced signal is supplied to the processingpart 119M of the control part 106M at the master side, where it issubjected to process of voice amplification and so forth and isreproduced as voice by the speaker 122M. Regarding information otherthan voice, various information such as character information and soforth are displayed on the display part 126M where it is supplied.

In this case, even if the control part 106S of the portable terminal1022 at the slave side and the radio part 104M of the portable terminal1021 at the master side are allowed to function and the weak radio wavetransmission and/or reception part 128S and the weak radio wavetransmission and/or reception part 118M are connected to each other byweak radio wave to configure the portable terminal, transmissionprocessing of voice and so forth can be similarly executed.

If such a master slave portable telephone system is used, the functionof the portable terminals can be enhanced by combining the functionsthereof using a high-function portable terminal of a new communicationsystem in the portable terminals 1021 and 1022. High functions such as amass data communication, a high image quality display, a high gradesound quality and so forth can be used, for example, by the combinationof high-function portable terminals, and the combination of ahigh-function portable terminal and a portable terminal having a normalfunction, thereby realizing a high grade communication even at an areawhere the number of base stations is small, and a weak electric fieldzone. Further, even if a portable terminal of a conventionalcommunication system is used in the portable terminals 1021, 1022,functions of a call and data communication can be enhanced.

If the portable terminal can be configured by the portable terminals1021, 1022 as set forth above, one portable terminal can realize anormal portable terminal capable of making a normal call by one portableterminal, a master terminal having a master function, and a slaveterminal having a slave function, and the master slave system can beconfigured independently by the normal terminal and not less than twoportable terminals, so that high function such as mass datacommunication, high image quality display, high grade sound quality andso forth can be utilized by the combination of high-function portableterminals and the combination of high quality portable terminal and theportable terminal having a normal function, thereby realizing a highgrade communication even at an area where the number of base stations issmall, and a weak electric field zone. A portable terminal having lowfunction and a high-function portable terminal can be used togethercompared with the high-function portable terminal, so that downsizingwith light weight, high function, high sensitivity, or low currentconsumption provided with the master slave function can be realized.

According to this embodiment, although the master slave portabletelephone system is configured by use of the portable terminal 102(first embodiment) shown in FIG. 2, the same master slave function canbe realized even by use of the portable terminal 102 (second embodiment)made up of the control part 106M (master terminal) and the radio part104S (slave terminal) as shown in FIG. 3 in the portable terminals 1021,1022.

Fourth Embodiment

A fourth embodiment of the invention is next described with reference toFIG. 5. FIG. 5 shows a portable terminal according to the fourthembodiment of the invention. A portable terminal 102 is provided with aradio part 104 and a control part 106 as a basic configuration, and theradio part 104 and control part 106 are configured to functionseparately and independently from each other but according to the fourthembodiment, first, second and third switches 132, 134, 136 are installedas switching part together with a single weak radio wave transmissionand/or reception part 130 which is used in common by the radio part 104and the control part 106. The switch 132 is installed between a baseband part 116 and the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part130, the switch 134 is installed while bridging over the switch 132 andthe weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part 130 and theswitch 136 is installed between the weak radio wave transmission and/orreception part 130 and a processing part 119. Accordingly, according tothe portable terminal 102, a first communication mode is established byclosing the switch 134 and the switch 136, and the base band part 116and the processing part 119 are connected to each other via the switch134 and the switch 136, thereby configuring a normal terminal.

A second communication mode is established by closing the switch 136 andopening the switches 132, 134, and in such a second communication mode,the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part 130 is connectedto the processing part 119 so that the control part 106 can be connectedto another portable terminal by way of the weak radio wave transmissionand/or reception part 130. Further, a third communication mode isestablished by closing the switch 132 and opening the switches 134, 136,and in such a third communication mode, the weak radio wave transmissionand/or reception part 130 is connected to the base band part 116 so thatthe radio part 104 can be connected to another portable terminal by wayof the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part 130.

In this embodiment, the switch 134 may be installed while bridging overthe weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part 130 and theswitch 136 as shown in FIG. 6, and in this case, if the normal terminalserving as the first communication mode is configured, it is sufficientthat the switches 132, 134 are closed. Still further, the switch 134 maybe installed while bridging over the only the weak radio wavetransmission and/or reception part 130, for example, as shown in FIG. 7,and in this case, if the normal terminal serving as the firstcommunication mode is configured, it is sufficient that all the switches132, 134, 136 are closed.

As mentioned above, if the portable terminal is configured by providingboth the radio communication part and information processing part bycombining them or a switching part for combining informationtransmission and/or reception part to the radio communication part orinformation processing part is installed, the single informationtransmission and/or reception part can be shared by the radiocommunication part and information processing part, thereby simplifyingthe configuration of the portable terminal which is subjected to themaster slave.

Fifth Embodiment

A fifth embodiment of the invention is next described with reference toFIG. 8. FIG. 8 shows a master slave portable telephone system accordingto the fifth embodiment of the invention. According to the master slaveportable telephone system, it is configured by portable terminals 1021,1022 at a master side and a slave side each using the portable terminal102 of the fourth embodiment, wherein the portable terminals 1021, 1022are the same as the portable terminal 102 shown in FIG. 5.

With two units of portable terminals 1021, 1022 having such aconfiguration, a radio part 104S of the portable terminal 1022 at theslave side and a control part 106M of the portable terminal 1021 at themaster side are operated respectively, and a weak radio wavetransmission and/or reception part 130S is connected to a base band part116S by closing a switch 132S, thereby allowing the slave side to be athird communication mode, while if a weak radio wave transmission and/orreception part 130M is connected to a processing part 119M by closing aswitch 136M to allow the master side to be a second communication mode,the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception parts 130S, 130M areconnected to each other thorough the weak radio wave, so that oneportable terminal is configured by the radio part 104S of the portableterminal 1022 side and the control part 106M of the portable terminal1021 side via the connection between the weak radio wave transmissionand/or reception parts 130S, 130M.

In this case, as set forth above, information signals inputted from akeyboard 124M and a microphone 120M of the portable terminal 1021 at themaster side are supplied to the weak radio wave transmission and/orreception part 130M via the processing part 119M and they aretransmitted from the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part130M to the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part 130S ofthe portable terminal 1022 at the slave side through the weak radio waveserving as the transmission medium. The information signal which isreceived and reproduced by the weak radio wave transmission and/orreception part 130S is converted into a base band signal by the baseband part 116S and is modulated by the RF transmission part 114S, and itis transmitted from the antenna 108S as an RF signal. Meanwhile, the RFsignal which is received by the RF reception part 112S via the antenna108S of the radio part 104S at the slave side is demodulated to the baseband signal, and a voice signal separated from the base band signal istransmitted from the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part130S serving as a transmission part to the weak radio wave transmissionand/or reception part 130M through the weak radio wave, then theinformation signal such as voice and so forth is reproduced, thereafterit is supplied to the processing part 119M of the control part 106M atthe master side, and finally it is subjected to processing of voiceamplification and so forth to be reproduced as voice by the speaker122M. Regarding information other than voice, various information suchas character information and so forth is displayed on the display part126M where it is supplied.

In this case, if the control part 106S of the portable terminal 1022 atthe slave side and the radio part 104M of the portable terminal 1021 atthe master side are operated by closing the switches 132M, 136S and theweak radio wave transmission and/or reception part 130S is connected theprocessing part 119 side, thereby allowing the slave side to be a secondcommunication mode, and the weak radio wave transmission and/orreception part 130M is connected to the radio part 104M side, therebyallowing the master side to be a third communication mode, then the weakradio wave transmission and/or reception part 130S and weak radio wavetransmission and/or reception part 130M are connected to each otherthrough the weak radio wave, thereby forming the portable radioterminal, process of transmission of voice and so forth can be similarlyeffected.

Further, with the master slave portable telephone system, if theconfiguration of switches at the master side and slave side isconfigured by the switches as shown in FIG. 6 or 7, instead of theswitches 132M, 134M, 136M, 132S, 134S, 136S as shown in FIG. 8, and thesame master slave function can be obtained.

Sixth Embodiment

A sixth embodiment of the invention is described next with reference toFIG. 9. FIG. 9 shows a portable terminal according to the sixthembodiment of the invention. A portable terminal 102 of this embodimentis provided with a radio part 104 and a control part 106 as a basicconfiguration and these radio part 104 and control part 106 areconfigured to function separately and independently from each other,wherein first and second weak radio wave transmission and/or receptionparts 1181, 1182 as a plurality of weak radio wave transmission and/orreception parts are installed in an information transmission and/orreception part 1180 at the radio part 104 side, while first and secondweak radio wave transmission and/or reception parts 1281, 1282 as aplurality of weak radio wave transmission and/or reception parts areinstalled in an information transmission and/or reception part 1280 atthe control part 106 side. With the portable terminal 102 having such aconfiguration, either the weak radio wave transmission and/or receptionpart 1181 or 1182 is connected to either the weak radio wavetransmission and/or reception part 1281 or 1282 through the weak radiowave, thereby configuring a normal portable terminal so that a call andtransmission processing of information can be executed as the masterterminal, the slave terminal or the normal terminal as set forth above.

With the portable terminal having such an arrangement, since the radiopart is provided with the first and second information transmissionand/or reception part, described above, for effecting transmissionand/or reception of information and the control part is provided withthe first and second information transmission and/or reception part foreffecting transmission and/or reception of information, the normalterminal is configured by combining the radio part with the control partusing the first information transmission and/or reception part,enhancing multi-function of the portable terminal such that the portableterminal can effect transmission and/or reception of informationrelative to another portable terminal using the second informationtransmission and/or reception and so on, thereby effecting a complexcall and transmission and/or reception of information.

A configuration example of the sixth embodiment is now described withreference to FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG. 10 shows an example of the radio partof the portable terminal according to the sixth embodiment of theinvention, and FIG. 11 shows an example of the control part of theportable terminal according to the sixth embodiment of the invention.According to this embodiment, the components which are the same as thoseshown in FIG. 9 is depicted by the same reference numerals and theexplanation thereof is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 10, an MPU 131 serving as a control part, a ROM 133, aRAM 135 and so forth serving as a storage part respectively are formedin the radio part 104, and these MPU 131, ROM 133, RAM 135 are linkedwith a base band part 116 and an information transmission and/orreception part 1180 and so forth by way of a bus 137. The MPU 131executes selection, control and so forth of the weak radio wavetransmission and/or reception parts 1181, 1182 when effectingtransmission and/or reception of weak radio wave according to a controlprogram stored in the ROM 133. A power supply stabilizing part 138 isinstalled in the radio part 104, and it generates a predeterminedvoltage and configures a cell charge control part. A fixed directvoltage is applied from a secondary battery 140, an AC (alternatingcurrent) power supply adapter 142 or the control part 106 (FIG. 9) tothe power supply stabilizing part 138. The secondary cell 140 is abattery which can be charged and discharged repetitively and configuredas a power supply of the radio part 104. The AC power supply adapter 142is AC-DC converter, and is connected to an AC power supply 144 forconverting the AC into the DC to generate a fixed DC voltage, and italso serves as a power supply of the radio part 104 and configures acharger of the secondary cell 140. The power supply stabilizing part 138generates a fixed voltage upon receipt of the fixed voltage from thesecondary cell 140, the AC power supply adapter 142 or control part 106side, and the fixed voltage is applied to the base band part 116, theweak radio wave transmission and/or reception part 1181 or 1182, and soforth. In this case, the secondary cell 140 and the AC power supplyadapter 142 serving as the charger may be shared with the control part106 (FIG. 11).

Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the information transmission and/orreception part 1280 and the processing part 119 are installed in thecontrol part 106, as set forth above, and the weak radio wavetransmission and/or reception part 1280 is configured by the informationtransmission and/or reception parts 1281, 1282. An MPU 146 serving as aninformation processing part, a ROM 148 and a RAM 150 serving as astorage section, an ADC (Analog Digital Converter) 152 for converting aninput signal of a microphone 120 into a digital signal, a DAC (DigitalAnalog Converter) 154 for converting an output signal of the MPU 146relative to the speaker 122 into an analog signal, a keyboard controlpart 156 for taking therein information input from a keyboard 124 intothe MPU 146, and a display control part 158 for driving a display part126 by display output of the MPU 146 are installed in the processingpart 119, respectively, and these elements are linked with one anotherby a bus 160. Further, a power supply stabilizing part 162 serving as apower supply port is installed in the processing part 119. The powersupply stabilizing part 162 is a part for generating a predeterminedvoltage, and it configures a cell charge control part, wherein a fixedDC voltage which is generated in the power supply stabilizing part 162serving as a power supply part is supplied to the microphone 120, thespeaker 122, the keyboard 124, the display part 126, the ROM 148 and theRAM 150 each serving as function part, respectively.

According to this embodiment, a fixed DC voltage is applied from thesecondary cell 140 and the AC power supply adapter 142 to the powersupply stabilizing part 162. Further, the secondary cell 140 and the ACpower supply adapter 142 which are common to the radio part 104 shown inFIG. 10 are employed in this embodiment. In this case, the secondarycell and the AC power supply adapter may be installed separately fromthe radio part 104.

A communication processing in the portable terminal 102 according tothis embodiment is now described with reference to FIG. 12. FIG. 12 is aflow chart showing a normal processing of the portable terminal.

Upon receipt of a radio wave from a base station, not shown, the RFreception part 112 of the radio part 104 executes an RF amplification ofa incoming radio wave (step S1), and the base band part 116 executes ademodulation processing of a base band signal (step S2), the MPU 131executes a decision whether the basic terminal (normal terminal) is setor not (step S3), application operation other than the basic terminal(normal terminal) is executed if the basic terminal is not set, forexample, an automatic transmission processing to a portable terminalside, not shown, is executed (step S4), and if the basic terminal isset, information transmission is effected, for example, between the weakradio wave transmission and/or reception parts 1181, 1281 (step S5). Thetransmission of the information is descending operation and a processingfrom the receipt of the incoming radio wave via the antenna 108 to atransmission of the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part1181 is executed inside the radio part 104 (steps S1 to step S5).

When the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part 1281receives data from the weak radio wave transmission and/or receptionpart 1181, the MPU 146 decides as to whether the received data is avoice call or mail communication (step S6), and if the received data ismail communication, information is supplied to the display part 126, anda mail incoming sound is allowed to generate in the speaker 122 toexecute mail processing (step S7). If the received data is the voicecall, its voice data is supplied from the MPU 146 to the DAC 154 wherethe digital signal is converted into the analog signal, and the voice isoutputted from the speaker 122, and at the same time, an incoming signaldisplay is effected on the display part 126 (step S8). At this time, thevoice detected by the microphone 120 is supplied to the ADC 152 where itis converted into the digital signal and it is captured in the MPU 146,and supplied from the MPU 146 to the weak radio wave transmission and/orreception part 1281 as voice data (step S9). The voice data is subjectedto information transmission between the weak radio wave transmissionand/or reception part 1281 and the weak radio wave transmission and/orreception part 1181 at the radio part 104 side (step S10), and thetransmission of this information is an ascending operation. That is, aprocessing from the receiving processing of the weak radio wavetransmission and/or reception part 1281 to the transmission processingof the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part 1281 isexecuted inside the control part 106 (step S5 to step S10).

The voice data received by the weak radio wave transmission and/orreception part 1181 is processed as the base band signal through amodulation processing by the base band part 116 of the radio part 104(step S11), and it is converted into an RF signal by the RF transmissionpart 114 and amplified therein, thereafter, the transmitted radio wavepasses via the transmission and/or reception switching part 10, and istransmitted toward the base station from the antenna 108 (step S12). Asa result, the transmission with a portable terminal, not shown, iseffected. The processing from the receipt of radio wave by the weakradio wave transmission and/or reception part 1181 of the radio part 104to transmission of radio wave by the antenna 108 is effected in theradio part 104 (step S10 to step S12).

Seventh Embodiment

A seventh embodiment of the invention is described next with referenceto FIG. 13. FIG. 13 shows a master slave portable telephone systemaccording to the seventh embodiment of the invention. According to themaster slave portable telephone system, the portable terminal 102 of thesixth embodiment is used in the portable terminals 1021, 1022 at masterand slave sides to configure the master slave portable telephone system,wherein the portable terminals 1021, 1022 are the same as the portableterminal 102 as illustrated in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11. In this case, theportable terminal 1022 serving as the slave terminal is a high-functionterminal corresponding to, for example, a W-CDMA system, and is capableof effecting transmission and/or reception and processing of largecapacity and high-function information such as image data and so forth.

A communication processing of the master slave portable telephone systemaccording to this embodiment is now described with reference to FIGS. 14and 15. FIGS. 14 and 15 are flow charts showing a processing of themaster slave portable telephone system, wherein depicted by A shows aconnection symbol of each flowchart.

According to this embodiment, transmission and/or reception of largecapacity data and information processing are effected by use of theportable terminal 1021 serving as the master terminal and a control part106S of the portable terminal 1022 serving as the slave terminal. Whenincoming radio wave is received by a radio part 104M of the portableterminal 1021, an RF reception part 112M amplifies an RF signal (stepS21), and a base band part 116M demodulates the RF signal to a base bandsignal, and information signal such as voice and so forth is demodulatedfrom the base band signal (step S22), and an MPU 131 (FIG. 10) decidesas to whether the portable terminal 1021 is set as a basic terminal(normal terminal) or not (step S23). In this case, information as towhether the portable terminal 1021 is set as the basic terminal or notis set in the radio part 104M in a stand-by mode, and the settinginformation is stored in a RAM 135.

If the portable terminal 1021 is not set as the basic terminal, theinformation signal is transmitted, for example, to a control part 106Sof the portable terminal 1022 as an application processing (step S24).In this case, the information signal is captured in a processing part119S via a weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part 1182M andweak radio wave transmission and/or reception part 1282S. In this case,although the case where the information is captured in the control part106S is exemplified, the information may be captured in another portableterminal.

If the portable terminal 1021 is set as the basic terminal, informationtransmission (descending operation) from the radio part 104M to thecontrol part 106M is effected via the weak radio wave transmissionand/or reception parts 1181M, 1281M (step S25), and the processing part119 decides as to whether the information transmission is large capacitycommunication or normal communication (step S26). In the case of thenormal communication, it is mail or a voice call (step S27), and in thiscase, the processing in step S6 and subsequent steps shown in theflowchart in FIG. 12 are executed (step S6 to step S8 in FIG. 12).

In the case of large capacity communication, the processing part 119Mdecides as to whether information is to be transmitted or not to theportable terminal 1022 serving as a high-function terminal at the slaveterminal side (step S28), and in the case where the information is nottransmitted, the control part 106M at the portable terminal 1021 sideexecutes the processing (step S29). That is, as a result of decision bythe MPU 146 of the control part 106 as to whether the informationtransmission is normal communication or large capacity communication,and if it is not large capacity communication, a processing is executedas the normal terminal.

In the case of transmission of data, a transmission instruction ofinformation is transmitted to the processing part 119S of the portableterminal 1022 side via the weak radio wave transmission and/or receptionparts 1282M and 1281S, and the control part 106S waits for the issuanceof an enabling notice from the processing part 119S (step S30). Theprocessing part 119M decides the presence or absence of the enablingnotice from the processing part 119S at the portable terminal 1022 side(step S31), and in the case where no enabling notice is obtained, thecontrol part 106M at the portable terminal 1021 side executes theprocessing (step S32). In this case, it is the normal terminalprocessing serving as the basic terminal.

If the enabling notice is issued from the processing part 119S at theportable terminal 1022 side to the portable terminal 1021 side,information signal is transmitted from the weak radio wave transmissionand/or reception part 1182M of the radio part 104M at the portableterminal 1021 side to the weak radio wave transmission and/or receptionpart 1282S, thereby executing the transmission of information (stepS33).

The transmitted information is displayed on a large screen of a displaypart 126S at the portable terminal 1022 side, and it is stored in theRAM 150 (FIG. 11) constituting the large capacity memory of theprocessing part 119S-(step S34), thereby using high-function terminalfunction. Upon termination of this processing, a signal representing atermination of the processing is generated in the processing part 119S(step S35). The termination signal is transmitted to the processing part119M via the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception parts 1281S,1282M, then the termination of the processing is notified (step S36).The termination of the processing is notified from the radio part 104Mof the portable terminal 1021 serving as the master terminal to theopponent's terminal serving as another portable terminal (step S37). Inthis case, information such as data representing termination of theprocessing of the control part 106M is transmitted to the radio part104M via the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception parts 1281M,1181M (ascending operation (step S38). In the radio part 104M,modulation processing is executed at the base band part 116M (step S39),then the base band is subjected to RF amplification and so forth at theRF transmission part 114, then it is transmitted from the radio part104M to the base station as a transmission radio wave, and it isnotified to the opponent's terminal (step S40).

Eighth Embodiment

An eighth embodiment of the invention is described next with referenceto FIG. 16. FIG. 16 shows a master slave portable telephone systemaccording to the eighth embodiment of the invention.

According to the this embodiment, the master slave portable telephonesystem is configured by a plurality of portable terminals 1021, 1022,1023, 1024, which are respectively within communication range of theweak radio wave transmission and/or reception part. The portableterminal 1021 is installed in a station part 164 of a PC or PDA and amaster terminal 166 is configured to allow a control part 106M alone tofunction. In this case, transmission and/or reception of weak radio waveat the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception part 128M of thecontrol part 106M (FIG. 3) is effected via an antenna 167. A charger ofa secondary cell inside the portable terminal 1021 is built in thestation part 164.

Further, the portable terminal 1022 is installed in a station part 164of the PC or PDA and a slave terminal 170 is configured to allow a radiopart 104S alone to function. In this case, transmission and/or receptionof weak radio wave at the weak radio wave transmission and/or receptionpart 118S of the radio part 104S (FIG. 3) is effected via the antenna167. A charger of a secondary cell inside the portable terminal 1022 isbuilt in the station part 164. Since these portable terminals 1021, 1022are within communication range capable of effecting transmission and/orreception of weak radio, if they are installed in the station part 164,it is shifted to a charge mode of the second cell.

Further, the portable terminal 1023 is used as a hand set, andconfigures a master terminal 172 as a structure to allows the controlpart 106M alone to function. In this case, the transmission and/orreception of the weak radio wave at the weak radio wave transmissionand/or reception part 128M of the control part 106M (FIG. 3) is effectedvia the antenna 167.

Still further, the portable terminal 1024 is installed in the stationpart 174 of the antenna and a slave terminal 176 is configured to allowthe radio part 104S alone to function. In this case, transmission and/orreception of weak radio wave at the weak radio wave transmission and/orreception part 118S of the radio part 104S (FIG. 3) is effected via theantenna 167. Further, an external antenna 178 is installed in thestation part 174, and an AC power supply adapter 142 is connected to thestation part 174. The external antenna 178 corresponds to an area havingsmall number of base station of a new communication system, andcomplements unstableness of a call state at a weak electric field zone.A commercial AC alternate current power supply is connected to the ACpower supply adapter 142, so that a stable DC voltage is supplied to theportable terminal 1024, which serves as a charger relative to thesecondary cell of the power supply of the portable terminal 1024.

Accordingly, with the use of this master slave portable telephonesystem, multi-function communication and stable communication state areestablished by switching to the master terminals 166, 172 or the slaveterminals 170, 176 and combining with the station parts 164, 174 asexemplified by the portable terminals 1021, 1022, 1023, 1024. Forexample, if the portable terminal 1024 is combined with the station part174, it is possible to realize a compact and light weight terminal,high-function terminal, stable communication state, and so forth.

Further, the master terminal 166 or slave terminal 170 combined with thestation part 164, or master terminal 172 serving as a hand set caneffect a call or data communication through transmission and/orreception of the weak radio wave by the master slave portable telephonesystem, and if they combine with the slave terminal 176 installed in alocation of window and so forth of a building, they can be utilized as ahigh-function terminal or a compact and light weight terminal. In thiscase, the master terminals 166, 172 and the slave terminals 170, 176 canbe allowed to function as a normal terminal if they are outside ofcommunication range of the transmission and/or reception of the weakradio wave.

Within the communication range of the transmission and/or reception ofweak radio wave, transmission and/or reception of information iseffected by transmission and/or reception of weak radio wave between themaster terminal 166 and the slave terminal 176, and it is possible tocommunicate with the outside via the slave terminal 176. Further,transmission and/or reception of information is effected by transmissionand/or reception of weak radio wave even between the master terminal 172and the slave terminal 170, and it is possible to communicate with theoutside via the slave terminal 176. In this case, when a call state isrendered unstable in the weak electric field zone, if the slave terminal176 is installed in a location of the window of a building, it ispossible to effect communication with the outside via the slave terminal176 through transmission and/or reception of information by thetransmission and/or reception of weak radio wave between the slaveterminal 176 and the master terminal 172, thereby executinghigh-function processing such as mass data communication, high imagequality display, high grade sound and so forth which are function of aportable terminal of a new communication system.

If the master slave portable telephone system is configured in that theportable terminal is connected to the external antenna by the provisionof the station part having the external antenna and the installation ofthe portable terminal in the station part, it is possible to realize astable communication state even in the weak electric field zone.

Still further, if it is configured that the portable terminal is allowedto function as a master terminal or a slave terminal withincommunication range of the information transmission and/or receptionpart, and the portable terminal is allowed to function as a normalterminal at the outside of communication range of the informationtransmission and/or reception part, it is possible to effect a stableradio call or transmission and/or reception of information whileavoiding unstable communication in the weak electric field zone.

If the master slave portable telephone system is provided with a chargerof the second cell which is built in the portable terminal at thestation part as described above, it is possible to stabilize the call inthe weak electric field zone and possible to charge the secondary cell,thereby enhancing convenience.

The processing outside the communication range of transmission and/orreception of the weak radio wave or at a strong electric field zone isnow described with reference to FIG. 17. As shown in FIG. 17A, theportable terminal 102 is used independently, and the radio part 104 andthe control part 106 thereof can effect information processing andcommunication. In this case, as shown in FIG. 17B, even if the portableterminal 102 is installed in the station part 164, the informationprocessing and communication are similarly effected.

Ninth Embodiment

A ninth embodiment of the invention is described next with reference toFIG. 18. FIG. 18 shows a master slave portable telephone systemaccording to the ninth embodiment of the invention.

The ninth embodiment is a mode of utilization for establishingcommunication utilizing public circuit network such as mobilecommunication telephone network and so forth and communication between aplurality of portable terminals at the same time, wherein communicationand interphone communication by multiple user is realized. In this case,facing portable terminals 1021, 1022, 1023 are installed. The portableterminals 1021 to 1023 may be configured by any of the portableterminals as described in the first to eighth embodiments. In thisembodiment, radio communication parts 179 of the portable terminals 1021to 1023 may include, for example, transmission and/or receptionswitching parts 110, RF reception parts 112, RF transmission parts 114,base band parts 116 and so forth.

A tripartite communication in a plurality of portable terminals 1021 to1023 is now described with reference to FIG. 19. FIG. 19 shows anexample of the tripartite communication.

A call state is established utilizing a mobile communication telephonenetwork between the portable terminals 1021, 1022 (step S51). This callis effected as a normal terminal using a radio part 104 and a controlpart 106 of the portable terminal 1022. Calling is effected from thecontrol part 106 of the portable terminal 1022 to the portable terminal1023 while maintaining a call state, thereby establishing acommunication state via respective weak radio wave transmission and/orreception parts 128 (step S52). Further, in this case, a connectionstate can be also established by effecting calling from the control part106 of the portable terminal 1023 to the portable terminal 1022 viarespective the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception parts 128(step S53). If such connection states are established, the control part106 of the portable terminal 1023 is rendered in a connection state withthe portable terminal 1021 via the portable terminal 1022. In suchconnection states, long range communication utilizing a public circuitnetwork between the portable terminals 1021, 1022, and the short rangecommunication between the portable terminals 1022, 1023 can be effectedat the same time, and also the communication comprising short range andlong range communications is established at the portable terminal 1023via the portable terminal 1022 (step S54). That is, the communicationmodes are as follows.

a the portable terminal 1021—the portable terminal 1022

b the portable terminal 1022—the portable terminal 1023

c the portable terminal 1021—the portable terminal 1022—the portableterminal 1023

An interphone function between the portable terminals 1022, 1023 aredescribed next with reference to FIG. 20. FIG. 20 shows an example ofthe interphone function.

A connection state is established by effecting calling from the controlpart 106 of the portable terminal 1022 to the portable terminal 1023 viarespective weak radio wave transmission and/or reception parts 128 (stepS61). Further, in this case, a connection state can be established byeffecting calling from the control part 106 of the portable terminal1023 to the portable terminal 1022 (step S62) via respective weak radiowave transmission and/or reception parts 128. If such connection statesare established, a call or data communication is effected between thecontrol parts 106 of the portable terminals 1022, 1023 (step S63). Thatis, portable terminals 1022, 1023 capable of effecting a long-rangecommunication can be used by an interphone unit, thereby effecting acall or data communication without intervening the pubic circuitnetwork.

With such connection states by the interphone function, it is possibleto communicate between the portable terminals 1022, 1023 and an externalportable terminal 1021 utilizing a public circuit network such as amobile telecommunication network and so forth.

Further, as described above, according to the master slave portabletelephone system, high-function such as mass data communication, highimage quality display, high grade sound quality and so forth can beutilized by the combination of a high-function portable terminal and theportable terminal having a normal function, thereby realizing high gradecommunication in the area having small number of base station and in theweak electric field zone. Thus, it is possible to effect thecommunication corresponding to the communication mode, location, andportable terminals through which a call is effected by use of thecombination of the low performance portable terminal and thehigh-function portable terminal compared with the case of using onlyhigh-function portable terminals, thereby improving the convenience ofthe portable terminal.

Tenth to Twelfth Embodiments

Examples of a concrete configuration of portable terminals according tothe tenth to twelfth embodiments of the invention are described nextwith reference FIGS. 21 to 23. The portable terminal of the invention isapplied to a portable telephone 180 (tenth embodiment) shown in FIG. 21,a laptop computer 182 shown in FIG. 22 (eleventh embodiment) and a PDA184 shown in FIG. 23 (twelfth embodiment), and common components asthose of the first to ninth embodiments are depicted by the commonreference numerals and the explanation thereof is omitted. The portabletelephone 180 is installed, for example, on a charger 186 as shown inFIG. 24 and is capable of charging a secondary cell 140. In this case,if the charger 186 is installed in a station part 174 (FIG. 16), and anexternal antenna 178 is installed in the station part 174, a stablecommunication state can be realized even in a weak electric region.

Technical matters are extracted from the embodiments of the portableterminal and the master slave portable telephone system of the inventionas set forth above, and the technical meaning, modification example,other technical expanded mattes and so forth are listed as follows.

(1) Although in the embodiments, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, theradio part 104S side is configured as the slave terminal and the controlpart 106M side is configured as the master terminal in one portableterminal, in the portable terminal 102 illustrated in FIG. 2, the radiopart 104 side may be configured as the master terminal and the controlpart 106 side may be configured as the slave terminal so that the radiopart 104 side and the control part 106 side are subjected to masterslave according to the invention to function independently, therebyestablishing various communication modes between itself and anotherportable terminal (for example, configuration showing in FIG. 16). Themaster terminal and the slave terminal are defined that an active sideor a control side is the master terminal and a passive side or a side tobe controlled is the slave terminal in one communication mode, so thateither terminal may function as the master or slave terminal uponestablishment of a communication.

(2) Although in the embodiments, the portable terminal 102 and so forthare exemplified, the configurations of the radio part 104 and thecontrol part 106 are explained, and also transmission and/or receptionof information through transmission and/or reception of weak radio waveby the weak radio wave transmission and/or reception parts 118, 128 andso forth have been described, it is possible to realize multi-functionof the transmission and/or reception of a call or information byseparating functions of the radio part 104 from those of the controlpart 106 in one portable terminal 102 and so forth. With the realizationof such a function, it is possible to diversify communication modes, forexample, by narrowing down the function of the high-function portableterminal and by adding a master function or slave function by use ofcompact and light weight multiple portable terminal which is the samelevel as the conventional type by use of a plurality of portableterminals, for example, two units of portable terminals.

(3) If a new communication system of high image quality display, highgrade sound source, increase of memory capacity, and a portable terminalon which a signal processing element and so forth are mounted employs astation dedicated for a terminal of a PDA mode terminal provided withhardware and software corresponding to a high-function portable terminalaccording to the master slave portable telephone system, it is possibleto realize high-function with ease.

(4) According to the master slave portable telephone system, it ispossible to realize the shape of the portable terminal of theconventional communication system, for example, the size, weight and soforth, and also to realize mass data communication, high image qualitydisplay, high grade sound quality. Further, it is possible to establisha stable communication state by the combination with a station parthaving an external antenna, and to enjoy a communication state by themaster terminal even in the area having small number of base station ofthe new communication system.

(5) It is possible to switch to the master terminal or slave terminalwhile installing the master slave function in the portable terminal,thereby enabling the manufacturing cost to be reduced by mass productionof the portable terminal, so that a communication mode usinghigh-function can be utilized when shifting from the conventionalcommunication system to the new communication system, thereby enhancingbuying inclination.

(6) Although the portable terminal such as a portable telephone and soforth are exemplified and described according to the embodiments, theinvention can be applied to an information processing terminal such asPC and so forth, a digital camera, a watch, a portable radio and soforth, thereby utilizing them for telephone talk, data communication andso forth.

Although the invention has been described with reference to the mostpreferred embodiments as set forth above, the invention is not limitedto the most preferred embodiments and it is natural that a personskilled in the art variously modifies and changes the invention based ona gist of the invention described in claims or detailed description ofthe invention, and such modification and changes are included in thescope of the invention.

The entire disclosure of No. JP 2003-092643 including specification,claims, drawings and summary are incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

1. A portable terminal comprising: a radio communication part thateffects communication by radio; an information processing part thatprocesses information; a first information transmission and/or receptionpart that effects transmission and/or reception of information, saidfirst information transmission and/or reception part being connected tosaid radio communication part; and a second information transmissionand/or reception part that effects transmission and/or reception ofinformation, said second information transmission and/or reception partbeing connected to said information processing part; wherein said firstinformation transmission and/or reception part and said secondinformation transmission and/or reception part can effect saidtransmission and/or reception of information by radio between said firstinformation transmission and/or reception part and said secondinformation transmission and/or reception part, and wherein a slaveterminal made up of said first information transmission and/or receptionpart and said radio communication part, and a master terminal made up ofsaid second information transmission and/or reception part and saidinformation processing part can effect transmission and/or reception ofinformation relative to another portable terminal by said firstinformation transmission and/or reception part or said secondinformation transmission and/or reception part.
 2. A portable terminalcomprising: a radio part that is provided with a first informationtransmission and/or reception part for effecting transmission and/orreception of information, the radio part effecting communication byradio; and a control part that is provided with a second informationtransmission and/or reception part for effecting transmission and/orreception of information, the control part processing the information;wherein said first information transmission and/or reception part andsaid second information transmission and/or reception part can effectsaid transmission and/or reception of information by radio between saidfirst information transmission and/or reception part and said secondinformation transmission and/or reception part, and wherein saidportable terminal effects communication by effecting transmission and/orreception of information relative to another portable terminal by bothsaid radio part and said control part, and said portable terminaleffects said transmission and/or reception of information relative toanother portable terminal by using either one of said first informationtransmission and/or reception part of said radio part and said secondinformation transmission and/or reception part of said control part, andeither one of said radio part and control part is used as a masterterminal and the other is used as a slave terminal.
 3. A portableterminal according to claim 1, wherein said portable terminal may beconfigured in that said portable terminal is functioned as said masterterminal or said slave terminal within communication range of saidinformation transmission and/or reception part, and it is functioned asa normal terminal outside the communication range of said informationtransmission and/or reception part.
 4. A portable terminal according toclaim 1, further comprising a station part having an external antennawherein when said portable terminal is installed in said station part,said portable terminal is connected to said external antenna, saidportable terminal effecting transmission and/or reception of a weakradio wave, said external antenna of said station part effectingcommunication with a base station.
 5. A portable terminal according toclaim 4, wherein said station part has a charger of a secondary batterybuilt in said portable terminal.
 6. A portable terminal according toclaim 1, wherein said information transmission and/or reception parteffects transmission and/or reception of information by radio or wire.7. A portable telephone comprising: a radio communication part thateffects communication by radio; an information processing part thatprocesses information; a first information transmission and/or receptionpart that effects transmission and/or reception of information, saidfirst information transmission and/or reception part being connected tosaid radio communication part; and a second information transmissionand/or reception part that effects transmission and/or reception ofinformation, said second information transmission and/or reception partbeing connected to said information processing part; wherein said firstinformation transmission and/or reception part and said secondinformation transmission and/or reception part can effect saidtransmission and/or reception of information by radio between said firstinformation transmission and/or reception part and said secondinformation transmission and/or reception part, and wherein a slaveterminal made up of said first information transmission and/or receptionpart and said radio communication part, and a master terminal made up ofsaid second information transmission and/or reception part and saidinformation processing part can effect transmission and/or reception ofinformation relative to another portable terminal by said firstinformation transmission and/or reception part or said secondinformation transmission and/or reception part.
 8. A portable telephonecomprising: a radio part that is provided with a first informationtransmission and/or reception part for effecting transmission and/orreception of information, the radio part effecting communication byradio; and a control part that is provided with a second informationtransmission and/or reception part for effecting transmission and/orreception of information, the control part processing the information;wherein said first information transmission and/or reception part andsaid second information transmission and/or reception part can effectsaid transmission and/or reception of information by radio between saidfirst information transmission and/or reception part and said secondinformation transmission and/or reception part, and wherein saidportable telephone effects communication by effecting transmissionand/or reception of information relative to another portable terminal byboth said radio part and said control part, and said portable telephoneeffects said transmission and/or reception of information relative toanother portable terminal by using either one of said first informationtransmission and/or reception part of said radio part and said secondinformation transmission and/or reception part of said control part, andeither one of said radio part and control part is used as a masterterminal and the other is used as a slave terminal.
 9. A portabletelephone according to claim 7, wherein said portable telephone may beconfigured in that said portable telephone is functioned as said masterterminal or said slave terminal within communication range of saidinformation transmission and/or reception part, and it is functioned asthe normal terminal outside the communication range of said informationtransmission and/or reception part.
 10. A portable telephone accordingto claim 7, further comprising: a station part having an externalantenna wherein when said portable telephone is installed in saidstation part, said portable telephone is connected to said externalantenna, said portable telephone effecting transmission and/or receptionof a weak radio wave, said external antenna of said station parteffecting communication with a base station.
 11. A portable telephoneaccording to claim 10, wherein said station part has a charger of asecondary battery built in said portable telephone.
 12. A portabletelephone according to claim 7, wherein said information transmissionand/or reception part effects transmission and/or reception ofinformation by radio or wire.